The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1887-11-09
THREE ASK FOR MERCY.
Spies. Fieiden and Schwsb Sign . Peti-
ton TO Gov. OeIssby for Mercy.
THE OTHER FOUR AnE STILL OBSTINATE,
THE U. S. SUPREME COURT SAYS
THE ANARCHISTS MUST HANG.
Arguments of the Lawyers.
And the Opinion of the Honorable
Court of Last Resort.

And the Opinion of the Honorable
Court of Last Resort.
.sCHlcA,a,, Nov 3.-August spies. safnae
Fielden aud Nicholas Schwab signed a peii
tion this afternoon humbly begging the Gov
erlor to commute their sentences. Thes
three of the seven condemned men were tn
only ones who have not written letters q
the Governor that they would dot accep
communications and that all efforts IN that di
rection were without their sanction. Th
signature of Fieldrn and Schwab were secur
ed this morning by Captain Black and l..
Oliver, who visited the prisoners at the jai
and had private conferences with them. Al
sorts of enireaties were adopted to get Spie
TO sign the petition, but lac resoluiey refuses
TO do So as did also Lingg Engel. Fische
and Parsons. At $3.50 P. NJ the same peti
tions were brought 10 the jail 10y Docio
Schmidt, Alderman Frank Stauber and 5
I.innmeyer. with permission from the sher
iff to confer with the condemned men
George Schilling arrived later and joined tbs
party 1t was plain that Spies had weakene'
since the morning conference. He read tn
petition over several times After an hour
pleading, spies said We'll, give me pen,
and with a flourish his name was appended
The visitors then turned their attention Il
the others, who have written lerters declin
ing executive clemency George Schillin:
talked long and earnestly with Parsons. bu
seemed 10 make no impression upon him
Lingg absolutely refused To consider the top
ic He and Engel talked together and ire
quenily smiled, Fischer seemed 10 be il
doubt as TO what he should do. Frank stan
Der paid him special attention. and OCCASION
ally patted him on the back in an encoura-
ging way. but he did not releni from the
position he had previously taken. 1t i un
derstood that there were three petitions sub
mitled, each differently worded One wa:
signed by Spies, FieIden and Schwab. bui
none of them suited the other four men.
The party promised to call again to morrow
and renew their application We have
won more than half the battle in getting the
signature of Spies. said Frank Stauber in
leaving the the jail, and we hope to win
the rest tomorrow
In the argument in the Anarchist cases
on the appeal to the Supreme Court of the
United states only two lawyers were heard
-. - IL a.. H., ..,-4 20 Iti;>.,;. ,-..-c
Attorney General Hunt and Mr. Grinnell
the public prosecutor The Anarchists were
represented by Mr. J Randolph Tucker and
Gen. Butler The contention of Messrs
Hunt and Grinnel was that the State law OF
Illinois was paramount in the case; that the
accused had fair trial before AN intelligent
jury and that there is no authority under
the constitution of the United States for the
Supreme Court to interfere in a matter
which has already been decided by the high
est court of Illinois, and which confirmed.
on appeal. the verdict of the lower court
On the other hand. Mr. Tucker held that the
fourteenth amendment to the constitution
forbidS any abridgrnent TO the privileges and
immnnities of citizens Of the United States
which privileges and immunities are Sc
forth in the first ten provisions of the con
stitniion. Among these are the right of cit
liens to be secure in their persons, honses
and effects against reasonable seizures, and
the guarantee that mo person shall he com
PEELED 10 testify against himself These con-
slintional privileges and irnmuniiies having
been violated in the case of the Anarchists,
Mr. Tnker contendesi that they had the right
ted States. Ii was further argued by him
that " due process of law was not observed
in the trial of the accused that the jury
was packed inasmuch as the Court passed
were already formed as to the guilt or inno-
cence of the accused, provided only they
could swear that they could give an impair
tial verdict on the testimony heard by them
tended that the privileges and immunities'
guaranteed by the federal constitution were
violated in the trial of the accused, and that
the right to be tried by an impartial jury
was denied them. In the case of Fielden
aud spies, one of whom Is an Englishman
and the other German, he contended that
treaties were the supreme law of the land,
aud thai these prisoners We're entitled, by
virtue of treaties with Germany and Great
Britain, to all tue rights and privileges of
American citizens AT the time such treaties
were made \ state had no power to Try
these men by its own laws which was not
the law of the land al the time the treaties
wers ratified He did not mean, he said.
that a foreigner could come into a State and
break the law with impunity, and that the
State could not touch him. But ne did
mean that the state could only try him in
accordance with the law of the land, the
whole land, at the time the treaty with his
government was made
DECISION OF TUE oougr.
The decision of the Court was announced
on Wednesday. Chief Justice Waite read
the opinion. The Court holds that the first
ten amendments of the constitution are lin
itations upon Federal and not upon State
action; that the jury law of Illinois Is upon
its face valid and constitutional, and that il
is similar in its provisions to the statue Of
Utah. which was sustained in this Court /;
that it does not appear in the record, that
upon the evidence the trial court should
have declared the Juror Sanford incompetent
and that Johann Most letter aud cross exam
ination of Spies, which counsel for the pris-
oners maintained virtually compelled them
Ia testify against themselves, was not pre-
senIed in the trial court, and that. therefore,
no foundation was laid for the exercise of
this courts jurisdiction, and that the qucs-
tions raised by General Butler in the cases
Of Spies and Fielden, upon the basis of their
foreign nationality were neither raised nor
decided in the State conrts, and therefore
cannot be considered here. The writ OF err
ror prayed for was denied
The police of Chicago were. il is stated,
consid rably agitated on Sunday by the dis
covery of a circular from an unknown source
sent through the mails. 1t was adires ed to
the workingmen of Chicago, and it was ask
ed if they wonld allow the champions of
their legitimate rights, who are now confin-
ed in Jail under sentence of death, brought
ahottt bx- nuhfic c.,nnr .,f..sasinn.d hy grass